The Best Articles in Privacy
The most useful articles and videos in Privacy from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Privacy Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved in Privacy by Refind users in 2023.
- How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps
- On the trail of the Dark Avenger: the most dangerous virus writer in the world
- How to Check Your Devices for Stalkerware
- American Phone-Tracking Firm Demo’d Surveillance Powers by Spying on CIA and NSA
- How to make your offline self harder to find online
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
Inside Cisco’s ‘Smart Office,’ Where 5,000 Data Points Are Constantly Collected
Cisco’s redesigned New York office is both a showcase of the company’s technology and an example of how it sees the workplace evolving. WSJ takes a tour to l...
Facial Recognition Tech: What Happens to Your Biometric Data?
Facial-recognition tech is being used more often. Supporters say it is a safe and convenient way to confirm identity. But skeptics say it possesses security ...
How to ...?
How to Check Your Devices for Stalkerware
You deserve privacy. Here's how to check your phone, laptop, and online accounts to make sure no one's looking over your shoulder.
How to make your offline self harder to find online
Keep your personal information personal
«Our goal in this article is to help you condense your attack surface as much as possible.»
How to delete what Facebook knows about your life outside of Facebook
The "Off-Facebook Activity" tool lets you see — and somewhat control — what other sites and apps tell Facebook about you
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds in Privacy on Refind.
Police Use of Face Recognition Is Sweeping the UK
Face recognition technology has been controversial for years. Cops in the UK are drastically increasing the amount they use it.
When deepfakes go nuclear
Governments already use fake data to confuse their enemies. What if they start doing this in the nuclear realm?
What a Bloody San Francisco Street Brawl Tells Us About the Age of Citizen Surveillance
When a homeless man attacked a former city official, footage of the onslaught became a rallying cry. Then came another video, and another—and the story turned inside out.
What the Doomsayers Get Wrong About Deepfakes
Experts have warned that utterly realistic A.I.-generated videos might wreak havoc through deception. What’s happened is troubling in a different way.
The one thing George Orwell's 1984 got wrong
When the copyright for George Orwell's work expired, two writers reimagined his towering masterpieces, 1984 and Animal Farm. Dorian Lynskey finds out why.
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles in Privacy—all under 10 minutes.
Apple vs Meta: The Illusion of Privacy
Learn how Apple and Meta use psychology and UX to collect your data while creating an illusion of privacy.
Without a Trace: How to Take Your Phone Off the Grid
A guide on anonymizing your phone, so you can use it without it using you
In 2023, digital privacy is, in many ways, a fiction: Knowingly or not, we are all constantly…
Read our simple rules for managing your digital privacy, and get a list of personalized recommendations.
If You’ve Got a New Car, It’s a Data Privacy Nightmare
Bad news: your car is a spy. Every major car brand failed a recent privacy and security test from Mozilla. You’re probably driving around in a "privacy nightmare" that may collect information as…
See your identity pieced together from stolen data
Have you ever wondered how much of your personal information is available online? Here's your chance to find out.
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles in Privacy.
On the trail of the Dark Avenger: the most dangerous virus writer in the world
The long read: Bulgaria in the 1980s became known as the ‘virus factory’, where hundreds of malicious computer programs were unleashed to wreak havoc. But who was writing them, and why?
How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps
A Muslim prayer app with over 98 million downloads is one of the apps connected to a wide-ranging supply chain that sends ordinary people's personal data to brokers, contractors, and the military.
American Phone-Tracking Firm Demo’d Surveillance Powers by Spying on CIA and NSA
Anomaly Six, a secretive government contractor, claims to monitor the movements of billions of phones around the world and unmask spies with the press of a button.
«track the movements of billions of people via their phones with a constant stream of data purchased directly from Twitter.»
Inside Google's Plan to Kill the Cookie
To replace the cookie in Chrome and Android, Google has an offering for the world called “Privacy Sandbox." Here's an exclusive peek into how it will work.
Why Signal won’t compromise on encryption, with president Meredith Whittaker
Signal recently killed SMS support as part of that mission.
Thought Leaders
We monitor hundreds of thought leaders, influencers, and newsletters in Privacy, including:
zeynep tufekci
Complex systems, wicked problems. Society, technology, science and more. @Columbia professor. @NYTimes columnist. My newsletter @insight http://www.theinsight.org

Patrick Gray
Host of the Risky Business® podcast. Guests by invitation only. Bsky: http://patrick.risky.biz
Gabriel Weinberg
Founder & CEO of DuckDuckGo. Co-author of the books Super Thinking & Traction. Tweets auto-delete via TweetDelete. DMs open.
Mozilla
We work to ensure the internet remains a public resource that is open and accessible to all. The nonprofit behind @Firefox. #BlackLivesMatter
briankrebs
Independent investigative journalist. Author of 'Spam Nation,' a NYT bestseller. Former Washington Post reporter. Mastodon: http://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs
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Every day Refind picks the most relevant links from around the web for you. Picking only a handful of links means focusing on what’s relevant and useful. We favor timeless pieces—links with long shelf-lives, articles that are still relevant one month, one year, or even ten years from now. These lists of the best resources on any topic are the result of years of careful curation.
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How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Who are the thought leaders in Privacy?
We follow dozens of thought leaders in Privacy, including zeynep tufekci, Patrick Gray, Gabriel Weinberg, Mozilla, briankrebs.
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